US-12623720-B2 - Method and control device for controlling driving operation of an articulated tracked vehicle

US12623720B2US 12623720 B2US12623720 B2US 12623720B2US-12623720-B2

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method (M 1 ) performed by a control device ( 100 ) for controlling driving operation of an articulated tracked vehicle (V). Said articulated tracked vehicle (V) comprises a drive arrangement ( 120 ) for operating the vehicle. The articulated tracked vehicle (V) comprises a first vehicle unit (V 1 ) and a second vehicle unit (V 2 ) steerably connected to the first vehicle unit (V 1 ) by means of a steering device (D) for mutually pivoting said vehicle units (V 1 , V 2 ). The mutual pivoting comprises roll movement about a roll axis (X). The steering device (D) comprises a roll arrangement (A 2 ) for said roll movement. The method comprises the step of controlling (S 1 ) the roll arrangement (A 2 ) of the steering device (D) so as to control mutual roll movement of said vehicle units (V 1 , V 2 ). The present invention also relates to a control device for controlling driving operation of an articulated tracked vehicle. The present invention also relates to a computer program and a computer readable medium.

Inventors

Björn Nordberg
Göran WESTMAN
Björn Hellholm

Assignees

BAE Systems Hägglunds Aktiebolag

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20201211
Priority Date: 20191218

Claims (11)

1 . A method performed by a control device for controlling driving operation of an articulated tracked vehicle, said articulated tracked vehicle comprising a drive arrangement for driving drive wheels of the vehicle for operating the vehicle, a braking system for braking the drive wheels of the vehicle, a transmission arrangement for providing gear shift of the drive wheels, and a first vehicle unit and a second vehicle unit steerably connected to the first vehicle unit by a steering device for mutually pivoting said vehicle units, the mutual pivoting comprising roll movement about a roll axis, the steering device comprising a roll arrangement for said roll movement, the roll arrangement comprising a rotation member, a control arrangement being providing for controlling the roll arrangement, the method comprising the steps of: determining coincident spinning of tracks on a side of the first vehicle unit and tracks on an opposite side of the second vehicle unit; reducing relative roll movement of the vehicle units based on the determination of coincident spinning; determining a power of said drive arrangement, a speed of the drive wheels, and a speed of transmission of said transmission arrangement; and controlling the roll arrangement of the steering device so as to control mutual roll movement of said vehicle units and reduce risk of the vehicle tipping over by the control arrangement acting on the rotation member based on the power of said drive arrangement, the speed of the drive wheels, and the speed of transmission of said transmission arrangement.
2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of controlling the roll arrangement by the control arrangement comprises providing a brake function and/or a locking function and/or a damping function and/or an actuation function of the control arrangement.
3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of controlling mutual roll movement of said vehicle units further comprises controlling a power provision of the drive arrangement; the braking system of the vehicle; and the transmission arrangement of the vehicle.
4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of controlling mutual roll movement of said vehicle units is further performed based on roll angle between said vehicle units.
5 . A control device for controlling driving operation of an articulated tracked vehicle, said articulated tracked vehicle comprising a drive arrangement for driving drive wheels of the vehicle for operating the vehicle, a braking system for braking the drive wheels of the vehicle, and a transmission arrangement for providing gear shift of the drive wheels, and a first vehicle unit and a second vehicle unit steerably connected to the first vehicle unit by a steering device for mutually pivoting said vehicle units, the mutual pivoting comprising roll movement about a roll axis, the steering device comprising a roll arrangement for said roll movement, the roll arrangement comprising a rotation member, a control arrangement being provided for controlling the roll arrangement, the control device being configured to: determine coincident spinning of tracks on a side of the first vehicle unit and tracks on an opposite side of the second vehicle unit; reduce relative roll movement of the vehicle units based on the determination of coincident spinning; receive information about a power of said drive arrangement, a speed of the drive wheels, and a speed of transmission of said transmission arrangement; and control the roll arrangement of the steering device so as to control mutual roll movement of said vehicle units and reduce the risk of the vehicle tipping over by the control arrangement acting on the rotation member based on the power of said drive arrangement, the speed of the drive wheels, and the speed of transmission of said transmission arrangement.
6 . The control device according to claim 5 , the control arrangement comprising a brake member for providing a brake function and/or a locking member for providing a locking function and/or a damping member for providing a damping function and/or an actuator member for providing an actuation function.
7 . The control device according to claim 5 , the control device, when controlling mutual roll movement of said vehicle units, further being configured to control a power provision of the drive arrangement; the braking system of the vehicle; and the speed of transmission of the transmission arrangement of the vehicle.
8 . The control device according to claim 5 , the control device, when controlling mutual steering movement of said vehicle units, is further configured to perform said control based on roll angle between said vehicle units.
9 . An articulated tracked vehicle comprising a control device according to claim 6 .
10 . A system for controlling driving operation of an articulated tracked vehicle, said system comprising a non-transitory memory storing program code which, when run on a control device or another computer connected to the control device, causes the control device to perform the method according to claim 1 .
11 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method according to claim 1 .

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a national stage application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Application No. PCT/SE2020/051201, filed internationally on Dec. 11, 2020, which claims priority to SE 1951490-0, filed Dec. 18, 2019, the entire contents of each are incorporated by reference herein. TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to a method performed by a control device for controlling driving operation of an articulated tracked vehicle. The invention also relates to a control device for controlling driving operation of an articulated tracked vehicle. The invention also relates to an articulated tracked vehicle. The invention in addition relates to a computer program and a computer readable medium. BACKGROUND ART Articulated tracked vehicles may advantageously be used for driving in terrain. Such articulated tracked vehicles comprise a drive arrangement for operating the vehicle. The drive arrangement may be any suitable drive arrangement such as an internal combustion engine for operating the vehicle, an electrical drive arrangement for electrically operating the vehicle or a hybrid drive arrangement for hybrid operation of the vehicle. Such an articulated tracked vehicle comprises a front vehicle unit and a rear vehicle unit steerably connected to the front vehicle unit by means of a steering device for mutually pivoting said vehicle units. The mutual pivoting may comprise pivoting about different axis. The mutual pivoting may comprise pivoting about a steering axis, the steering device comprising a steering arrangement for said steering. The mutual pivoting may comprise pivoting about a roll axis, the steering device comprising a roll arrangement for said roll movement. The mutual pivoting may comprise tilting about a tilt axis, the steering device comprising a tilt arrangement for tilt movement. When driving such articulated tracked vehicle the operator of the vehicle may change the angle of the horizontal plane between the front and rear vehicle units by means of a steering wheel. The roll arrangement is arranged to facilitate for the vehicle units to provide a roll movement relative to each other so that the front and rear vehicle units may follow the ground surface. The roll arrangement may however affect driving of the tracked articulated vehicle, e.g. on soft surface which requires skills from the operator. There may also be a risk of the rear vehicle unit tipping over. There is thus a need for improving controlling driving operation of such an articulated tracked vehicle. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a method performed by a control device for controlling driving operation of an articulated tracked vehicle. Another object of the present invention is to provide a control device for controlling driving operation of an articulated tracked vehicle. Another object of the present invention is to provide an articulated tracked vehicle comprising such a control device. SUMMARY These and other objects, apparent from the following description, are achieved by a method, a control device, an articulated tracked vehicle, a computer program and a computer readable medium, as set out in the appended independent claims. Preferred embodiments of the method and the control device are defined in appended dependent claims. Specifically an object of the invention is achieved by a method performed by a control device for controlling driving operation of an articulated tracked vehicle. Said articulated tracked vehicle comprises a drive arrangement for operating the vehicle. The articulated tracked vehicle comprises a first vehicle unit and a second vehicle unit steerably connected to the first vehicle unit by means of a steering device for mutually pivoting said vehicle units. The mutual pivoting comprises roll movement about a roll axis. The steering device comprises a roll arrangement for said roll movement. The method comprises the step of: controlling the roll arrangement of the steering device so as to control mutual roll movement of said vehicle units. Hereby manoeuvrability is improved when driving in soft conditions. Hereby safety during drive of the vehicle at relatively higher speeds on slippery and/or uneven ground is improved in that the risk of the vehicle tipping over/rolling over may be reduced. Hereby manoeuvrability and safety during amphibious operation may also be improved. The step of controlling the roll arrangement of the steering device so as to control mutual roll movement of said vehicle units is according to an aspect configured to be performed so as to reduce the risk of the vehicle tipping over. The step of controlling the roll arrangement of the steering device so as to control mutual roll movement of said vehicle units is configured to be performed during drive of the vehicle. According to an embodiment of the method, the step of controlling the roll arrangement is performed by means of a control arrangement. He